Homecoming weekend: QND soccer products relish return to Gem City as part of Maryville program

QUINCY — As the charter bus navigated the Gem City streets while delivering the Maryville women’s soccer team to its hotel, Erin Barnes had a surreal realization.

She had come home, but she wasn’t going home.

“It’s one of those things where I’m like, ‘I should be going to my parents’ house or Notre Dame or somewhere other than a hotel,’” said Barnes, a Quincy native and Quincy Notre Dame graduate who is a senior forward for the Saints. “That was certainly different.”

Yet, those city streets still felt comforting.

“Coming into town, all the familiar things, it brings you back,” Barnes said. “It reboots you.”

Better yet, Sunday’s game against Quincy University at Legends Stadium gave Barnes and Maddie Dickerman, another QND product playing for Maryville, the opportunity to feel the community’s embrace.

Dickerman started at center back, just as the junior defender has all season, and played 62 of the 90 minutes. Barnes came off the bench and put two shots on goal in 34 minutes as the Saints played the Hawks to a 2-2 draw in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.

Throughout the game, the sizable crowd — it may have been split pretty evenly between QU and Maryville supporters — let the Quincyans know they had support.

“A lot of familiar faces,” Barnes said.

Voices, too.

“You hear people in the stands that you know,” Dickerman said. “It’s a great atmosphere.”

Afterward, it was even better. That’s when the players were able to meet up with family and friends and take part in a postgame tailgate party while the men’s game was played as part of the traditional GLVC doubleheader.

“I get to see my family mainly on holidays,” said Dickerman, who had helped the Saints carrying a four-game, 400-minute scoreless stretch into Sunday’s affair. “For them to be here and get to see them, it means a lot. I hear them while I’m playing, then I get to see them after the game.”

Her cheek-to-cheek smile made it clear how much it meant.

“It’s a lot of emotions,” Dickerman said.

Both players knew it would be.

“It’s always one of those you mark on your calendar with stars all around it,” said Barnes, who has one goal in nine games this season and three in her career. “You just have a different feeling than all the other games. It’s fun.”

The people in the stands make it so.

“My parents are very committed to coming to my games,” Barnes said. “That is such a plus, but just being able to come back and see other people from here, it makes such a difference. If I’m having a rough couple of weeks or a couple practices, it kind of recenters me. It’s like, ‘Have some fun and play for them.’ They are always looking out for you and are there for you.”

That has always been the case.

Barnes and Dickerman were part of the QND state championship team in 2018 when the Raiders went 26-3-3 and won the Class 1A state title. A year later, with Barnes a senior and Dickerman a junior, the Raiders were bumped to Class 2A and lost in the regional finals to Peoria Notre Dame.

The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 season, costing Dickerman the chance to chase another title. It did the same for QU midfielder Morgan Evans, who played alongside Barnes and Dickerman at QND but lined up as a foe Sunday.

“I loved playing with Morgan,” Dickerman said. “Playing against her is a lot different. The camaraderie, the little nugs, the tap on the back when we give each other a foul, that’s all part of it. Obviously, we’re competing, but off the field, we’re great friends.”

They did run into each other Sunday, knocking each other to the ground before helping each other up and patting each other on the back.

Barnes and Evans didn’t cross paths on the field.

“We were never in the position where I was next to her,” Barnes said. “But I did see that little tangling up, and it just made me laugh. Good times, healthy competition.”

It meant the day lived up to the anticipation.

“I’m so blessed to have the opportunity to play with a great team,” Dickerman said. “The girls are great. The coaching staff is great. It was great to be back in Quincy today.”